world_war_2wikiaorg-20200214-history
Italian Forces in World War II
When it comes to World War II, most historians cover military actions of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Japan or Russia. Events associated with the Italian war effort are usually limited to criticism. North Africa The Italian invasion of British Egypt was initially to coincide with Operation Sealion, the aborted German invasion of Great Britain in 1940. When it became apparent to Benito Mussolini that Sealion was postponed indefinitely, he ordered Marshal Rodolfo Graziani to launch his 10th army, comprised of 7 divisions, into combat across the Egyptian border from Italian Libya. Graziani led his numerically superior Italian force across the Libyan-Egyptian border in September 1940 against a smaller but highly mobile British enemy. The invasion was a disaster, and by December of that year the Italian forces in Libya were on the verge of certain collapse. German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Tripoli, Libya, in February 1941 and over the next month assembled an ad hoc German light infantry division with panzer and motorized infantry, to give the Italians the firepower and leadership needed to defeat the British. He assumed command of the Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK) and with only 20 Bf 110s and 60 Ju 87s"By the end of February 1941, 5th Squadra Aerea had more than 120 serviceable aircraft in Tripolitania, while the Luftwaffe had only 80 (20 Bf 110s and 60 Ju 87s). With this modest air support, Gen Rommel began an offensive on 24 March, and by 13 April had recaptured all of Cyrenaica with the exception of Tobruk. In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945, Hans Werner Neulen, p. 48, Crowood, 2000, he received much needed help from the Regia Aeronautica in Libya to force back the exhausted British."The Royal Air Force had sent the best squadrons in the Middle East to support the operations in Greece, leaving the bombers and fighters of the Regia Aeronautica a free hand to harass the retreating British mercilessly. Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 210, Casemate, 2015 The Italian Stukas made their debut in North Africa on 11 January 1941 in conjunction with X Fliegerkorps, Italian pilots crippling the British aircraft-carrier HMS Illustrious"Around midday on January 10, waves of Italian air force Ju87 Stukas attacked the ship, and six or seven thousand-pound bombs hit their target, set fire to aviation fuel below decks and destroyed the carrier's steering system, the attack took only ten minutes." Aces, Warriors and Wingmen, Wayne Ralph, p. 15 , John Wiley & Sons, 2008 , allowing the safe arrival of the Afrika Korps in February. Although Rommel’s leadership ability and German firepower certainly helped the struggling Italian forces, Italian fighters and bombers also played a significant role in forcing the Australians to abandon Benghazi, the British Commonwelath forward supply base in Libya."The Australians pressed on the heels of the Italian Tenth Army as it passed through Benghazi. ... There was virtually no enemy air activity, however, in this battle but, within a few days, Italian aircraft began bombing Benghazi which was in British use as a forward supply point." Anti-aircraft artillery, 1914-55, Volume 4, N. W. Routledge, Brassey's, 1994 The Italian Army Ariete Armoured Division and Brescia and Trento Motorized Infantry Dvisions arrived in North Africa in February 1941 in conjunction with Rommel's Afrika Korps. The Ariete was composed of 6,949 men, 163 tanks, 36 field guns, 61 anti-tank guns. Rommel had a total of 100,000 Italians, 1,000 Italian guns and 151 Italian aircraft under his command. He also had 7,000 Italian trucks supplying munitions to the frontlines. Russia Italy’s 8th Army, formed in July 1942, served as part of the German 29th Army Corps of Army Group B during Operation Barbarossa. Originally, the Italian Alpini Corps was to be used on the Caucasus Front, where its mountain-warfare training would have been very helpful in the German offensive, but instead the entire 8th Army was deployed on the Don Front. It was stretched too thinly to effectively resist the Russian counterattack during the Battle of Stalingrad. Heavily outnumbered and under-equipped, most its divisions were destroyed in the fighting withdrawal of the next few weeks. References Category:North African Campaign Category:1941 Category:1940